Carmichael’s Concise Review


(C. elegans) (Figure 1C and 1D). Ten they localized the cell-adhesion molecules SynCAM1 and SynCAM2. Tey then used the miniSOG with the relatively new technique of “serial block-face scanning electron microscopy” to reveal the three-dimensional distribution of the SynCAMs in prenatal mouse brains


(Figure 1E). In short, they demonstrated that


SynCAM1 and SynCAM2 are localized to pre- and post-synaptic membranes, respectively. Tis technique shows great promise for establishing the 3-D architecture of diverse molecules in neuronal synapses, which will indeed be a complex task! Further, if the DAB and OsO4 do not quench the fluorescence of miniSOG, the target protein could possibly be imaged using a cathodoluminescence detector in the EM, as well as by simultaneous EM imaging. Tis could provide more evidence that the electron-dense DAB product is truly co-located with the miniSOG molecule, and hence the target protein. At the end of their abstract, Shu et al. concluded that


“MiniSOG may do for EM what Green Fluorescent Protein did for fluorescence microscopy.” Considering the fact that the senior author, Dr. Tsien, shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2008 for his role in the discovery and development of GFP and other fluorescent tags, their statement is no idle boast [2].


References [1] X Shu, V Lev-Ram, TJ Deerinck, Y Qi, EB Ramko, MW Davidson, Y Jin, MH Ellisman, and RY Tsien, PLoS Biol 9(4), e1001041. DOI: 10:1371/journal.pbio.1001041


[2] Te authors gratefully acknowledge Dr. Xiaokun Shu for reviewing this article.


10


www.microscopy-today.com • 2011 September


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